THE PHASE TRANSITION OF WATER AND THE THREE FUNDAMENTAL LAWS OF MATERIALIST DIALECTICS (continued)

The phase transition of water is commonly used to illustrate the law of the transformation of quantity into quality in dialectical materialism. However, conventional presentations generally remain at a purely descriptive, macroscopic level and do not fully capture either the physical or philosophical nature of the phenomenon. This raises a fundamental question: when temperature (quantity) changes, causing water to pass from the solid phase to the liquid phase and from the liquid phase to the gaseous phase, which physical properties express and allow us to identify the qualitative differences among these phases? The article uses the tetrahedral order parameter as a quantitative indicator of local structural order, thereby helping to identify changes in physical organization among the phases and to clarify one aspect of qualitative change at the phase level. This approach helps clarify the law governing the transformation between quantity and quality. Based on an analysis of the Lennard-Jones potential, the article clarifies the physical basis of the opposing tendencies involved in phase transitions, thereby providing a concrete illustration of the law of contradiction. The transitions through the solid, liquid, and gaseous phases are analyzed in terms of negation and inheritance, helping to clarify the law of the negation of the negation in a specific natural process. The study contributes to clarifying this natural-scientific phenomenon at both qualitative and quantitative levels while also clarifying the epistemological and methodological significance of dialectical laws for the analysis of natural processes.